The Sister Team Behind UniCreamer

Lori and Elisa Lefcourt had a calling to make a vegan creamer that was healthy and had a had larger mission. And Unicreamer was born. Here they tell us all about their journey, lessons learned, and passion.

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Tell us about your business and accomplishments.

Unicreamer is the first portable coffee creamer to contain a completely clean label. Thew new inventory that will be launching at the end of September will contain 3g of plant protein and 2g of MCT oil per serving. It's delicious, creamy, and dissolves beautifully into your coffee! We're dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, non-gmo and vegan and keto lifestyle friendly! Our mission is to support your mission. Unicreamer is the go-to plant-based coffee creamer dedicated to people who wish to improve their mind and body by incorporating more plant based foods into their every day lives; which in turn helps them focus on what’s most important to them. We take the thinking out of being healthy when it comes to your daily pick me up. Unicreamer is crafted with compassion, starting from the use of sustainable packaging to protect our earth and being vegan to protect earth's creatures. We aim to create programs that touch the lives of people wanting to free animals from inhumane situations.

What inspires you? Who have your role models and mentors been?

I'm inspired by people who do good in this world and are able to overcome. Our role models have been several big names in the animal rescue community such as: Lisa Vanderpump who uses her fame to rescue animals and protest against inhumane treatment of animals worldwide and Zack Skow of Marley's Mutts who overcame his past addictions and now has several rescue programs that also help humans heal as well. Our mentors are some amazing entrepreneurs who have stuck with us and gave us amazing product/life advise in the toughest times in our business and are just two fo the most generous humans I know. We aim to be able to give back to people like they have done for us. One of them being Jade Teta who is a big name in the health and self development world and Rob Maru who has won several industry awards in the health and wellness space.

What makes you an amazing Chicago woman? Are you from Chicago? What do you love about Chicago?

I was born in Evanston, but group up in St. Louis. Elise, my sister, has lived in Chicago for 7 years and our parents met in Chicago. I think was makes US amazing is the fact that we have been lifted up by other amazing women! We've had the opportunity to partner with some amazing women in Chicago such as Alicia Driskill of Evolveher and Daniela Bollzman who have been super influential in our growth and success so far and are responsible for creating connections for us far beyond what we would have imagined. I love the fact that Chicago seems big but it actually has such a neighborhood feel as circles of interest are quite small. It seems as if everyone is willing to work together to grow and has been really generous. (Lori lived in NYC for 9 years so perhaps her comparison makes Chicago seem quite small and nice) The health and innovation of the food scene is also growing by the day in Chicago and is super inspiring!

What advice to have to share with other women?

I would say, if you have a dream—execution is everything. There is always a way to start and sometimes you have to make sacrifices in the short term to create the life you've always dreamed. I moved from a nice life on the upper west side of Manhattan to live with my sister, Elise (who sacrificed several paychecks) to start Unicreamer. If you're not ready to "quit your day job" yet—you can always create a plan and small daily steps to get to where you want to be! Time flies so be patient and eager. Grab coffee with everyone and fail forward! Your biggest lessons will be in failures!

How has been being a woman benefited you in your field? What are your natural strengths that have brought you success?

I'd say women are more intuitive when it comes to partnerships, we're able to quickly shift through people who may or may not be good for our business pretty quickly. Naturally, Elise and I are good at creating connections and being resourceful. There's nothing we can't figure out. For instance, we needed help developing our new formulation and we were not experts— so I jumped on a flight to Anaheim. I networked until I met an industry expert who saw our passion and drive and decided to take Unicreamer to a whole new level with sourcing ingredients.

What have been some of the challenges being a woman in your field has presented, if any?

Some of the challenges are that women, inherently, are not as egotistical in business as men are. It's tougher to put ourselves out there without thinking too much about if we're "bragging" or how we are going to look to other people. I'd say the playing field, in general, has really evened out though for men and women in my experience compared to what it used to be, which we are grateful for!

In the era of female empowerment, why is a strong community of women important to you?

It's really important for me, I came from a male dominated industry, Wall Street, and it was important for us to partner up with a community of women when launching the business. Women have the ability to truly lift each other up and relate to each other on an emotional and developmental level that you just can't find in a male dominated industry. One of the reasons we joined Evolveher is because we wanted to connect with other women to serve as mentors and partners as we grow and evolve in our own business and personal lives.